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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
During his return journey from Strasbourg, where he addressed both
the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, Pope Francis
answered questions posed by the journalists who accompanied him on
the flight. The questions and the Holy Father's answers are published
below.

Q: “Your Holiness addressed the
European Parliament with pastoral works that may also be regarded as
political words, and which may be linked, in my opinion, to a
social-democratic stance - for example, when you say that we must
ensure that the true expressive force of populations is not removed
by multinational powers. Could we say that you are a social-democrat
Pope?”

Pope Francis: “This would be
reductive. It makes me feel as if I am part of a collection of
insects: 'This is a social-democratic insect ...'. No, I would say
not. I don't know if I am a social-democrat Pope or not. I would not
dare to define myself as belonging to one side or another. I dare say
that this comes from the Gospel: this is the message of the Gospel,
taken up by the social doctrine of the Church. In reality, in this
and in other things – social and political – that I have said, I
have not detached myself from the social Doctrine of the Church. The
social Doctrine of the Church comes from the Gospel and from
Christian tradition. What I said – the identity of the people –
is a Gospel value, is it not? In this sense, I say it. But you have
made me laugh, thank you!”

Q: “There is almost no-one on the
streets of Strasbourg this morning. The people say they are
disappointed. Do you regret not visiting the Cathedral of Strasbourg,
that celebrates is millennium this year? And when will you make your
first trip to France, and where? Lisieux, perhaps?”

Pope Francis: “No, it is not yet
planned, but one should certainly go to Paris. Then, there is a
proposal to go to Lourdes. I have asked to visit a city where no Pope
has yet been, to greet the citizens. But the plan has not yet been
made. No, for Strasbourg, a visit to the cathedral was considered but
it would have mean already making a visit to France, and this was the
problem”.

Q: During your address to the Council
of Europe I was struck by the concept of transversality, especially
with reference to your meetings with young politicians in various
countries, and indeed you spoke of the need for a sort of pact
between generations, an intergenerational agreement at the margins of
this transversality. Also, if I may ask, is it true that you are
devoted to St. Joseph, and have a statue of him in your room?”

Pope Francis: “Yes, it is true.
Whenever I have asked something of St. Joseph, he has granted it to
me. The fact of 'transversality' is important. I have seen in
dialogue with young politicians in the Vatican, from different
parties and nations, that they speak with a differetn music, that
tends towards transversality, and this is valuable. They are not
afraid of coming out of their own territory, without denying it, but
coming out in order to engage in dialogue. They are courageous! I
believe that we must imitate this, along with intergenerational
dialogue. This tendency to come out to find people of other origins
and to engage in dialogue: Europe needs this today”.

Q: “In your second discourse, to the
Council of Europe, you spoke about the sins of the sons of the
Church. I would like to know if you have received the news on the
events in Granada [alleged sexual abuse of minors by priests in the
archdiocese, Ed.], that in a certain sense you brought to light...”

Pope Francis: “I received the news –
it was sent to me, I read it, I called the person and I said,
'Tomorrow you must go to the bishop', and I wrote to the bishop
asking him to begin work, to start the investigation and go ahead.
How did I receive the news? With great pain, with very great sadness.
But the truth is the truth, and we cannot hide it”.

Q: “In your addresses in Strasbourg,
you spoke frequently of both the threat of terrorism and the threat
of slavery: these are attitudes that are also typical of the Islamic
State, which threatens much of the Mediterranean, which threatens
Rome and also threatens you personally. Do you think it is possible
to engage in dialogue with these extremists, or do you think this is
a lost cause?”

Pope Francis: “I never give something
up as a lost cause: never. Perhaps dialogue is not possible, but
never close the door. It is difficult, one might say almost
impossible, but the door is always open. You have used the word
'threaten' twice: it is true, terrorism is a threat. … But slavery
is a real situation embedded in the today's social fabric, and has
been for some time. Slave labour, human trafficking, the trade in
children … it is a crisis! We must not close our eyes to this.
Slavery, today, is a reality, the exploitation of people … And then
there is the threat of these terrorists. But there is another threat,
and it is State terrorism. When the situation becomes critical, and
each State believes it has the right to massacre the terrorists, many
who are innocent fall prey alongside the terrorists. This is a form
of high-level anarchy that is very dangerous. It is necessary to
fight terrorism, but I repeat what I said during my previous trip:
when it is necessary to stop an unjust aggressor, it must be done
with international consensus”.

Q: “In your heart, when you travel to
Strasbourg, do you travel as Peter's Successor, as the bishop of
Rome, or as the archbishop of Buenos Aires?”

Pope Francis: “As all three, I think.
My memory is that of the archbishop of Buenos Aires, but I am no
longer in this role. Now I am the bishop of Rome and Peter's
Successor, and I think that I travel with this memory but with these
realities; I travel with all these things. Europe worries me at the
moment; it is good for me to go ahead in order to help, as the bishop
of Rome and Peter's Successor; in this respect I am Roman”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy Father dedicated the catechesis of this morning's general
audience to “a fundamental truth that Vatican Council II kept
clearly in mind, and which must never be forgotten: the Church is not
a static reality, still, an end in itself, but is instead continually
in progress through history, towards the final, marvellous
destination that is the Kingdom of Heaven, of which the earthly
Church is the seed and the beginning”. He continued, “When we
face this horizon, we realise that our imagination stops and
discovers that it is only just able to intuit the splendour of the
mystery that overcomes our senses. And certain questions arise
spontaneously in us: when will this final passage take place? What
will the new dimension in which the Church enters be like? What will
become of humanity? And of the Creation that surrounds us? But these
questions are not new; they had already been posed by Jesus'
disciples in those times”.

Francis explained that, faced with
these questions, the Council Constitution “Gaudium et spes”
affirms that “we are unaware of when the earth and humanity will
come to an end, and we do not know how the universe will be
transformed. Certainly, the appearance of this world, deformed by
sin, will pass away. However, we know from Revelation that God
prepares a new home and a new land, in which justice will abide, and
whose joy will superabundantly satiate all the desires for peace that
arise from the heart of man. … We will finally be clothed in joy,
peace and God's love, completely and without any limit, face to face
with Him”.

In this way, the Pontiff emphasised
that it is good to perceive that there is a basic continuity and
communion between the Church in Heaven and the Church in her earthly
path, without forgetting that we are always invited to offer good
works, prayers and the Eucharist to alleviate the suffering of souls
that still await endless beatitude. “From a Christian perspective
the distinction is no longer between those who are already dead and
those who are not, but between those who are with Christ and those
who are not. This is the decisive element for our salvation and for
our happiness”.

“At the same time, the Sacred
Scripture teaches us that the fulfilment of this marvellous plan
cannot but affect all that which surrounds us and which emerged from
the thought and the heart of God. … What we expect, as the
completion of a transformation that is in reality already in process
ever since Christ's death and resurrection, is therefore a new
creation; it is not, therefore, the annihilation of the cosmos and
all that which surrounds us, but rather bringing everything to its
fullness of being, of truth, of beauty. This is the plan that God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, has always wished to
fulfil, and is fulfilling”. He concluded, “when we think of these
stupendous reality that awaits us, we realise the extent to which
belonging to the Church is truly a wonderful gift, that leads
towards the highest vocation”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
Following today's catechesis, the Pope offered special greetings to
the Arab-speaking faithful, in particular those from Iraq and the
Middle East. “The violence, suffering and the seriousness of the
sins committed must lead us to leave all to the justice of God, who
will judge each one according to his works. Be strong and cling to
the Church and to your faith, so as to purify the world with your
confidence; transform with your hope and heal with your forgiveness,
with the love and patience of your witness. May the Lord protect and
support you”.

Finally, during his greetings in
Italian, and recalled that tomorrow his three-day apostolic trip to
Turkey will begin, he invited those present to pray that “Peter's
visit to his brother Andrew may bring fruits of peace, sincere
dialogue between religions and harmony in the Turkish nation”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father sent a message to Cardinal Lluis
Martinez Sistach, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain, on the occasion of
the International Pastoral Congress on the World's Big Cities, held
in the Catalan capital.

“I am glad to learn of the work
accomplished and encourage all to continue to reflect creatively on
the way to face the task of evangelising in great urban centres, in
increasing expansion, and in which everyone needs to feel the
closeness and mercy of God, who does not abandon”, writes the Pope.

“The Church has the mission of
ensuring that the Good News of Jesus Christ and His salvific love
reaches all environments, without fear of pluralism and without any
form of discrimination. She does not consider it a loss to go out to
the peripheries or to change the usual preconceptions, when
necessary. Like a mother, whose primary concern is the wellbeing of
her children, without sparing any effort or sacrifice, may she ensure
they never lack the light of the Gospel that fills life with hope,
joy and peace; that they never lack acceptance to feel integrated
within a community, in circumstances of disintegration or in cold
anonymity; that there grows in them the spirit of authentic
solidarity with all, especially with those most in need”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
The Pontifical Councils for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant Peoples and for Justice and Peace, in collaboration with
the international male and female Unions of Superior Generals (UISG
and USG) have convoked an international conference for prayer and
reflection on human trafficking, tobe held on 8 February 2015, feast
day of St. Josephine Bakhita, the Sudanese slave canonised in 2000.

According to a press release, “human
trafficking is one of the worst examples of slavery in the XXI
Century. This concerns the whole world. According to the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Office
on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) roughly 21 million people, often very poor
and vulnerable, are victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation,
forced labour and begging, illegal organ removal, domestic servitude
and forced marriages, illegal adoption and other forms of
exploitation. Each year around 2.5 million people are victims of
trafficking and slavery: 60 are women and children. They often suffer
abuse and unspeakable violence. On the other hand, for traffickers
and pimps, this is one of the most lucrative illegal activities in
the world, generating a total of 32 billion dollars a year. It is the
third most profitable 'business' after drugs and arms trafficking”.

“The primary objective of the
International Day is to create greater awareness on this phenomenon
and to reflect on the overall situation of violence and injustice
that affect so many people, who have no voice, do not count, and are
no one: they are simply slaves. Another goal is to attempt to provide
solutions to counter this modern form of slavery by taking concrete
actions. For this, it is necessary to stress the need to ensure
rights, freedom and dignity to all trafficked persons, reduced to
slavery. On the other hand, we must denounce both the criminal
organisations and those who use and abuse the poverty and
vulnerability of victims to transform them into goods for pleasure
and gain”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
CARDINAL JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR
Interreligious Dialogue is participating in the 9th Colloquium
between the aforementioned Pontifical Council and the Centre for
Interreligious Dialogue (CID) of the Islamic Culture and Relations
Organisation (ICRO), held in Teheran, Iran from 25 to 26 November on
the theme “Christians and Muslims in constructive dialogue for the
good of society”. In his address, the cardinal remarked that the
term “construction” normally refers to the building of a house on
strong foundations, and emphasised that “we need to be sure that we
are doing good work, on solid foundations, to be sure of the hoped
results for our present and our future”. Other themes to be
considered during the meeting are spirituality, religious values as a
response to extremism and violence, and the role of the media in
promoting a culture of dialogue. Cardinal Tauran remarked that, when
agreeing the sub-themes during the preparatory meeting, no-one
imagined that extremism and violence would become as dramatic as they
are today. “We cannot remain silent or indifferent to the extreme,
inhuman and multi-form violence to which Christians and Yezedis have
been subjected. Many of them, as we know, have preferred death to
renouncing their faith. They are true martyrs. … Nothing can
justify these heinous acts. Invoking religion to justify these crimes
would be a crime against religion itself as well”.

ARCHBISHOP DOMINIQUE MAMBERTI,
SECRETARY FOR RELATIONS WITH STATES yesterday addressed the plenary
assembly of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference in Sydney, in
a discourse devoted to the diplomatic activity of the Holy See, with
special reference to the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
“The Holy See's diplomacy has various particular aims, which flow
from its primarily spiritual mission. These include the defence of
the Church's rights and freedom, and of religious liberty in general,
the promotion of an ethical vision in the various questions which
affect human life, society and development, the defence of human
dignity and rights, the promotion of reconciliation and peace, the
promotion of integral human development and humanitarian interests,
the protection of the environment and, when requested, the mediation
of disputes”.

The Holy See, he added, “is very
concerned about the tragic situation currently unfolding in the
Middle East. It does not propose technical solutions but it is
tirelessly involved in raising international awareness and in
appealing to the international community to intervene as a matter of
urgency to stop the aggressor, provide humanitarian aid and address
the root causes of the present crisis”.

Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) –
The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Celestin Hakizimana as bishop of
Gikongoro (area 2,057, population 582,159, Catholics 248,471, priests
51, religious 70), Rwanda. The bishop-elect was born in Kigali,
Rwanda in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1991. He holds a
doctorate in theology from the San Tommaso Faculty of Theology in
Naples, Italy, and has served in a number of pastoral roles,
including parish vicar in Rutongo, diocesan representative for
Catholic education, director of the St. Paul National Pastoral Centre
in Kigali, and director of GEMECA-Rwanda. He is currently secretary
general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Rwanda.